Two new matches have been added to the card for May’s All Together event, the first show under the United Japan Pro-Wrestling banner.
It was announced in December 2023 that nine promotions had come together to form the United Japan Pro-Wrestling industry group. Their first collaborative show is being held at Budokan Hall on Monday, May 6.
A singles match between Pro Wrestling NOAH star Kenoh and NJPW’s Kosei Fujita has been added to the All Together event. A tag team match with SANADA (NJPW) & KAI (Dragon Gate) facing Zack Sabre Jr. (NJPW) & Chris Brookes (DDT) is also now set.
NJPW, AJPW, NOAH, DDT, Ganbare, Big Japan, Dragon Gate, Stardom, and Tokyo Joshi Pro are the nine promotions in the industry group. While still operating separately, they’ve come together to advance pro wrestling in Japan following the COVID-19 pandemic.
The mission statement for the group is:
To further the presence of pro-wrestling and its cultural merit in Japanese society at large, allow professional wrestling to contribute further to cultural and sporting sectors, and work toward continued health and prosperity of the industry.
All Together is airing as a pay-per-view on ABEMA. A portion of the proceeds from the event are being donated to the victims of the Noto Peninsula earthquake that happened at the beginning of this year.
Smackdown, 205 Live and Mixed Match Challenge were taped earlier today in Manchester, England (TJP vs. Gran Metalik, Buddy Murphy vs. Mark Andrews, Bobby Lashley & Mickie James vs. Finn Balor & Bayley and R-Truth & Carmella vs. Jimmy Uso & Naomi) and there was a Raw house show in Leeds, England.
An incredible amount of devotion from all involved resulted in WWE’s first all-women’s pay-per-view being a special night and a strong contender for the company’s best show of the year. Evolution wasn’t just an event that was worthy of its place in history — it elevated it. The wrestlers who competed in the ring, everyone involved with putting the PPV together, and the fans in attendance all worked in unison to make Evolution a show that exceeded all reasonable expectations.
Look behind-the-scenes at the decisions regarding Crown Jewel as the lead story in the new issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
Find out about the decision making process, how the last week went down, why the show almost didn’t happen, negative media reaction, why WWE can survive negativity more now than in the past, what happened with John Cena, Daniel Bryan and Hulk Hogan, and different plans thrown out for Bryan vs. A.J. Styles and why they didn’t happen.
Read full coverage of WWE Evolution with notes on the business, notes on mainstream interest, match-by-match coverage with star ratings as well as poll results from the show.
Go in-depth on WWE business. Look at where the declines took place that led to the stock falling, and what is and isn’t significant about them. Look at the network numbers and compare the post-WrestleMania drop with last year.
Look at the house show business, including Vince McMahon’s comments on the decline, as well as a breakdown on the merchandise business, NXT ticket sales and full 2018 attendance numbers for the main brands and for NXT.
Also look at WrestleMania tickets, WWE content production, a Roman Reigns story, more on Reigns’ diagnosis, the WWE/Evolve relationship, changes to Evolve through usage of WWE talent, plans for the next Takeover show, injury updates.
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TUESDAY NEWS UPDATE
WWE
Here’s the lineup for tonight’s SmackDown from Manchester, England: Jeff Hardy vs. Samoa Joe for a spot on SmackDown’s Survivor Series men’s team, Rey Mysterio vs. Andrade “Cien” Almas, Becky Lynch issuing an open challenge and The New Day vs. The Usos to determine the captains for a Raw tag teams vs. SmackDown tag teams match at Survivor Series.
AJ Styles & Daniel Bryan defeated Randy Orton & The Miz in a dark match main event at today’s tapings.
WWE Network News reported that collections on the nWo and WWE’s Matches of the Year from 2018 are scheduled to be added to the Network in December.
2K released two new content packs today for WWE 2K19. One is a “Woooo! Edition Pack” that unlocks Randy Savage, Ricky Steamboat, new attire for Ric Flair and Charlotte and the 1983 Starrcade arena. The other pack, “Ronda Rousey & Rey Mysterio Pack” lets you play as both wrestlers plus also unlocks new Towers: Ronda Has Arrived and Rey Returns. Both are available now for $7.99.
Sportbible talked to Nia Jax about Roman Reign’s battle with leukemia.
Pro Wrestling
In an interview with Tokyo Sports, Tetsuya Naito revealed that he was offered a WWE contract after Dominion this past June, but turned it down. “I didn’t even give it thought,” he told them. “This New Japan ring is already the world’s number one stage. The fans know this. That’s why I think we should focus on our home crowd before looking international.”
Taka Michinoku is facing a scandal in Japan after Japanese magazine FLASH revealed that he has been having an extramarital affair for the last eight years. Michinoku took to Twitter to apologize for his actions. New Japan has not commented on the matter yet. Kaientai Dojo (which was founded by Michinoku back in 2002) have responded to the report, saying that they would take appropriate action.
Matt Jackson tweeted about The Young Bucks not being on NJPW’s World Tag League tour: “Truthfully we were never even offered the tour. But yes, it wouldn’t make sense to leave our families for close to 4 weeks during the holidays for many reasons; finances only being one amongst many.”
This week’s episode of Being the Elite was filmed on the Jericho cruise and includes an appearance by “H” at the end.
The latest Ten Pounds of Gold looks at everything from the NWA 70th anniversary show, including the 2 out of 3 falls main event.
Mauricio Rios, who most recently was an executive at Telemundo, has been named VP of programing and acquisitions for the El Rey network.
MJF will defend his Middleweight title against Marko Stunt, Kotto Brazil, and Jason Cade in a four-way ladder match at the second night of MLW’s tapings in Miami, Florida next month. The tapings are being held on December 13 and 14.
Today is NWA Worlds Heavyweight Champion Nick Aldis’ 32nd birthday.
Here is a trailer for the third night of PWG’s Battle of Los Angeles.
UFC/MMA
Ben Askren talked to FloCombat about the reported match between he and Robbie Lawler that is said to be taking place in January. He said that he’s a bad matchup for anyone, including Lawler.
Paige VanZant will face Rachael Ostovich in a flyweight bout on January 19, the first show to air on ESPN+.
Chad Mendes vs. Alex Volkanovski has been added to the UFC 232 card in Las Vegas.
Anthony Johnson, who hasn’t fought since April of 2017, is expressing interest in returning to MMA, but only if he gets to face Jon Jones for the heavyweight title.
Ali Abdelaziz told Ariel Helwani that Khabib Nurmagomedov only has one fight left in his UFC contract.
